The Horse's Mouth (1958)

So I took a chance on another Alec Guinness comedy. I'm not sure why I put it on my queue, but Netflix describes it as one of his strangest, making it perhaps even more of a gamble. I learned later that director Robert Neame made some dramas I enjoyed but also comedies that didn't do much for me.

Guinness plays the oddly named Gulley Jimson, a little-known painter. He has trouble making ends meet that way, so he resorts to criminal, legally gray, or just plain undignified means. Unlike most scoundrels, he seems to care more about leaving his artistic mark than making money. For example, when some aristocrats want to buy an older painting (in his ex's tenacious possession), he decides to paint right on their blank wall without express permission during their vacation. Another act involves a group mural on a church slated for demolition. (The title connects to a throwaway line that IMDb users haven't seen fit to record.)

Horror of Dracula (1958)

Originally just called Dracula in its native UK, because Hammer Films was big on remaking Warner Bros. classics from a generation earlier. Normally I don't watch horror movies outside of October or November unless they're about to stop streaming on Netflix, but people keep associating the late Christopher Lee with this role (as opposed to a different Count D.), so I thought it my best choice for paying respect.

Unsurprisingly, Lee is the best thing about it. Sure, he doesn't have a non-British accent, but maybe he didn't want anyone to accuse him of trying and failing to imitate Bela Lugosi. Too bad he gets only 13 lines and not a whole lot of screen time -- and while not seeing a monster can ratchet up the fright factor, it doesn't work so well when we've already seen him at his nastiest.